


Building castles in the sky

by Bill_Longbow



Series: Tony Stark bingo [8]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Multi, Multiverse, Portals, Post-Avengers (2012), Tags May Change, Wingfic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-13
Updated: 2018-12-13
Packaged: 2019-09-17 14:09:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,273
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16976031
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bill_Longbow/pseuds/Bill_Longbow
Summary: When Tony is sucked into a portal the last thing he expects is... well, he didn't expect anything, really. Not the fact that people have wings here and live in the clouds, not meeting the winged counterparts of his teammates, and certainly not that they are in a relationship together.What he could've expected, but doesn't want to know, is that things aren't as peaceful in the heavens as they should be, and that his help will soon be needed.





	Building castles in the sky

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Feelingsinwinter](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Feelingsinwinter/gifts).



> For the lovely Feelings in winter, who likes Starkspangledwinterhawk, wingfic and adventures. 
> 
> Happy birthday sweetheart!!
> 
> Part of the fic is betad by Wini, thank you!
> 
> And (not so) coincidentally it's also a fill for the Tony Stark bingo square 'sent to a different dimension' (R1) which gives me a bingo, yay!

“Dum-E, no, DON’T TOUCH THAT--”

 

_ Falling, endlessly falling, vertigo so bad he has to squeeze his eyes shut against the nausea _  
  


He isn't stopping, isn't slowing down, light shines through his eyelids, but he isn't stopping and he doesn't dare open them for fear reality will be even worse than his imagination. 

Suddenly he's slowed down with a jolt as strong arms wrap around his waist, slowing his descent even more before they're swooping upwards again. He really, really does not want to open his eyes, but he does so anyway when they lurch to the side, and his breath catches at the vision, his brain scrambling to make sense of what he’s seeing.

Clouds.

Lots of clouds. Big, fluffy ones like in the 16th century paintings of heaven. And on these clouds are buildings, some small, like houses, on others soaring high towers of a material that gleams in the light. Around the buildings and in the air in between are winged people, going about their daily winged person life.

“Son of a--” Tony quickly bites his tongue. It won’t do to offend a denizen of heaven within the first minute of his stay there, and isn’t  _ that  _ a surprise. For a moment he’s overcome by infinite sadness. He doesn’t want to be dead, gone to heaven or not. There’s too much to do back at home, too many people he would miss, people who would miss him. His bots, his Platypus, his team...

He turns his head to look at the angel who caught him and flails hard enough to almost dislodge himself. “Clint? What the… did you die too? How? How can you be here sooner than me? And as a fully fledged angel?”

“You’re too heavy to talk while I’m lugging you around,” Angel Clint huffs at Tony.

“Death hasn't made you more agreeable, aren't there rules angels must keep, like not offend the newly deceased or something.” Tony knows he shouldn't aggravate the person/angel/being who is in the process of saving him, presumably, but he’s always had a questionable hold on his brain to mouth filter and soaring in a cloud world in the arms of a former team member is not helping any.

“One, I’m pretty sure we’ve never met, and two, do I look dead to you?” Angel Clint looks more annoyed than dead, Tony has to give him that.

“Rude, Clint, just because you’ve sprouted wings is no reason to pretend you don’t know me. Is this angelic snobbism?” Tony bites his tongue to make it stop wagging when Angel Clint’s frown nearly reaches his nose. Maybe the angelfying process makes you forget? Who knows what kind of rules there are in the afterlife. He sure as hell, heck, didn’t think there’d be skyscrapers with-- What the--

They are flying directly towards one of the larger and shinier towers, a beacon that shimmers in the light like it’s made of mother-of-pearl. They come at an angle, but Tony can clearly see “STARK” in bold letters on the side of the building. Tony sighs. Just his luck he will meet his dad ten minutes after arriving in the afterlife. The whole heaven part seemed to good to be true anyway.

Angel Clint drops him on the top of the tower without ceremony, and only years of training with the likes of Nat and human Clint ensures that he rolls and stands without a bruise. Angel Clint lands gracefully next to him, his large brown wings fluttering a few times before they fold behind his back.

“Stay behind me and don’t touch anything,” Angel Clint orders, and marches in front of him through the doors that slide open with a nice hissing sound, reminiscent of Star Trek doors, which is oddly reassuring. The inside of the building is a stark contrast (ha) to the colourful and opulent outside. The hallway they walk through is a clinical white, the walls unadorned. They pass several doors before Clint stops at one and knocks in a complicated pattern.

From the inside an answering knock comes, just as complicated, and Tony notices it makes the corner of Angel Clint’s mouth curve up. Angels with fetishes for secret knocks was unfortunately not the strangest thing of the last fifteen minutes.

“Look who I found.” Angel Clint says and stands to the side to let Tony enter.

Again he has trouble processing what he sees. The door opens to a wide open space, with a high ceiling in a dome shape and painted in a blue and white cloud pattern. The floor to ceiling windows are tinted a bit, so they let in a soft light that makes the whole space look likes it’s shining with an inner glow. The floor is filled with aparati of all different kinds, some that look familiar, others Tony can only guess the function of, and shelves large enough to walk on are placed interspersed on the walls are filled with machinery as well.

These all are details that Tony only later has time to appreciate. What has drawn his eye and doesn’t compute is the man in the middle of all this. Taller, and blue eyed, with olive green wings tapering off into teal blue at the tips, the man who smiles at Clint before his eyes settle on Tony and mirror his shock, is undeniably him.

Tony shakes his head as if to clear it of the cobwebs of his recent death and takes a step closer.

“Looks like your readings were right,” Clint speaks up from behind Tony, not quite pushing, but also not not-pushing him further into the space. He lets himself be herded, only because he’s feeling so far out of his depth he could be in the Mariana trench.

“Of course my readings were right, my readings are always right.” Angel Tony? Bird Tony? recovers quicker than him and steps up to Tony with a bright smile.

“Welcome to my not so humble abode,” Winged Tony says with an elaborate gesture around him. “Good thing I was home to pick up on the disturbance and sent Clint here to catch you. Where are you from?”

“Earth?” Tony tries, facepalming himself internally. Of course he didn’t die by being sucked into a portal, but computing superstrings and actually falling into another dimension are two different things entirely. “I’m not sure we have another designation for ourselves yet,” he’s quick to make himself less of a fool. “I might be the first to… leave our dimension.”

Winged Tony nods empathically. “We’ve had some other unfortunates be transported here, somehow our little world seems to attract them, but this is the first time one of us-- Wait, my manners. Anthony Stark, at your service, I’m assuming you’d want to get back sometime?” Winged Tony holds out his hand for Tony to shake, which he does after only a slight hesitation.

“Tony Stark, and, yeah, thank you, that would be greatly appreciated.”

“Molly, run calculations epsilon to labda again, compiled with the readings we got from the current portal.”

“As you wish,” a mechanical voice answers, and Tony slowly feels the fatigue of the vertigo and assuming he was dead make way for excitement. He is dying (ha!) to get his hands on all the machinery and equipment he sees lying around, and pick Winged Tony’s brain about… about everything.

“Is that an AI?” Tony almost jumps in glee.

“I sure am. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Stark,” the mechanical voice answers with a southern drawl to it.

“Likewise, Miss Molly. Thank you for helping me get home.”

“What a charmer, aren’t we charming, Clint?” Winged Tony bats his lashes at Clint who still stands about a feet behind Tony like a silent sentry.

Tony’s Clint would’ve rolled his eyes at that statement so hard he might’ve seen the inside of his skull, but Winged Clint steps forward to pull Winged Tony into his arms and  _ kiss him _ . “You sure are.”

That is… That is… Okay,  _ this _ probably is the most shocking thing that has happened in the last half hour.

“C’mon, Tony, we’ll have you back to your place in no time, Molly has never let me down, have you, dear?” Winged Tony, Anthony, steps away from Clint to hold out an arm towards a part of the space Tony hasn’t even noticed yet, an alcove with a huge couch and something that resembles a fireplace. “Do you want anything to drink, eat? You’ve got to tell me about your world. Is everyone as small?” He asks as they walk over to the couch.

Now wait a minute. “You’re no André the Giant yourself you know,” Tony replies with a huff. Honestly. Until he sees the grin and he knows he's been had.

Tony's about to retort when suddenly the door slams open. He turns and stares as Steve, but winged, comes flying, literally flying, at them.

“Anthony! We got your message are you--” Steve asks out of breath midway, until his eyes fall on Tony and he trails off, looking like a confused puppy for a moment while he lands next to Anthony, very close to Anthony, like he wants to protect him from the interloper. Unfortunately Anthony is almost a foot taller and looks at Tony over Steve’s head with an amused grin.

“Steve?” Tony asks the fae like version of his teammate, not even shocked anymore. Apparently Steve Rogers is born small in more than just his universe.

“Anthony? Wait, how do we know who you are and not some kind of imposter?” Steve crosses his arms in front of his chest and spreads his wings, which were a gorgeous down white.

“Down boy.” Clint steps forward to put a hand on Steve’s shoulder. “I saw him fall through the portal with my own eyes, I’m sure he’s okay.” Clint’s face is carefully blank at this statement, and it makes Tony instantly wary. He hasn’t had much time to get to know his teammates all that well yet, but he knows this expression is Not Good.

He never realises a fourth person entered until they’re standing next to him. “Jesus! How did you get here?”

“I walked, unlike human cannonball Rogers over there,” the man retorts and luck has it Tony’s all out of shocks so he just takes it in stride when he recognises him as Bucky Barnes.

“Reasonable,” he nods, because why fly all the time if you have feet. It sounds like something Peggy might've said, and he briefly wonders if she's around here somewhere as well.

“See!” Anthony says brightly, stepping around Steve to put an arm around Tony's shoulder. “Naga would never agree to walking. Now, let us sit and exchange knowledge. We've never had one of us drop in before, not to mention the most handsome Avenger. Are you part of the Avengers in your world as well? Not every world has them, at least not in our capacity, there was this one lovely young lady from a world where they were rock stars. Rock stars! Can you believe it?”

During this verbal waterfall Anthony leads them to the sofa and not so subtly pushes Tony to sit. He's immediately flanked by Barnes, while Steve sets himself next to Anthony's other side.

“I see, I'm on snack duty again, aren't I?” Clint huffs. “Bird seeds good for everyone?”

Through sheer force of will, honed by decades of media performances and dealing with politicians and businessmen Tony manages to not blink at the statement, until he sees and recognises that tilt of Clint's eyebrow which means he's screwing with someone.

“I'm not sure, I don't think we have these…  _ birds _ , do you call them?” Tony answers, smiling apologetically.

The four share a look of such confusion Tony can't keep back a grin.

“Ohh, he's good,” Anthony smirks next to him. “I like you, I'm gonna keep you.” He pats Tony's knee and turns to Steve. “Now I see what you guys see in me, we're fab.”

“I still think we should question him, it's too much of a coincidence. You  _ know _ they're after--,” Steve trails off with a fugitive glance at Barnes, and Tony notices how Anthony's face softens while Barnes next to him stiffens. He turns and his eyes immediately fall on the missing left wing, a detail he missed when he was shepherded to the couch. The other wing, large and a grey white reminiscent of a snow owl, flutters at the attention. While Barnes pulls it closer to his body he meets Tony's gaze head on, as if to dare him to mention the missing one.

“I don't think I can say anything to ease your mind,” Tony says carefully. “I just want to go home. But you can keep surveillance on me. I'm sure a lady as bright as Molly can keep an eye on me, and I promise not to go outside without anyone of you.” He looks at Steve to see how he reacts to Tony's words, but is met with a stone faced visage.

“Unless you threaten me or keep me hostage,” he adds, leaving the threat unspoken but clear nonetheless.

Next to him Anthony sighs. “I'm sorry. We've been… under a lot of stress lately. Things aren't as peaceful as they seem. We won't bore you with the details. I have full confidence you'll be back in your own universe in twenty-four hours and won't find any inconvenience of our little… squabble.”

Squabble schnabble, Tony is sure this is way more than that, but he has zero inclination to join their whatever it is.

**Author's Note:**

> The bird I have in mind for Anthony:  
> https://www.milford-sound.co.nz/kea-the-clever-clown-of-the-alps/ which is reported to be the smartest bird in the world. 
> 
> Tiny Steve has goose wings, after seeing several videos of geese chasing away much larger animals (like a herd of bulls).
> 
> Clint has to be some kind of hawk, and Bucky has the wings of a snow owl.
> 
> Come say hi on [Tumblr](http://bill-longbow.tumblr.com) or join us on the 16+ [ Stuckony discord server ](https://discord.gg/jtXcc3n) for all things Tony, Bucky and Steve!


End file.
